Trash Stories

Yesterday (18 June 2007), I read in the paper of a celebration at FRIM (Forest Research Institute Malaysia) for the World Environment Day 2007.
It reads “Message lost on participants” and “Rubbish strewn everywhere”

Imagine, participants of a conservation project throwing trash everywhere!!!!
Hypocrisy in us?

Case 1
I saw this lady with a black plastic bag, all tied up. She was standing near a rubbish pan with a broom. Then, the captain announced the departure of the ferry from Penang Island to Butterworth. The lady periodically looked over the deck. I was puzzled. The ferry moved further away from the pier. Then about 50 meters away from the pier, that lady flung the black plastic bag into the sea!
That was the scenario at 2.30pm on 13 June 2007. The lady was the sweeper in the ferry. There were dustbins. All the collected rubbish and cigarette butts were filled into the plastic bag….and disposed into the sea! A few years ago, I saw a man sweeper just emptied the rubbish pan into the sea. I believe all our trash placed in the dustbins would actually end up in the sea. So, the next time you are in the ferry – you may as well throw the rubbish into the sea! Right?

Case 2
It was 7 pm. We were on a ferry from Koh Lipee to Pak Bara, Thailand. I did not like the cold evening wind at the upper deck. So, I went to the lower deck at the back of the boat. The crews were busy cleaning up the deck. Then, suddenly, our rubbish (earlier we were eating fruits and had disposed our rubbish into the bins) was emptied into the middle of the sea. So, the next time you are on a boat – you may as well throw the rubbish into the sea! Right?

Case 3
Few years ago, when I landed at Koh Tarutao (Thailand), I was greeted by 4 recycle bins – one each for rubbish, bottles, tins and papers. Good, so I threw my empty plastic bottle into the recycle bin.
I lead my group into the jungle trails around the island. Then, we were surprised to find a rubbish dumpsite on the island. We saw all the bottles, tins, papers and rubbish – all at the dump. The trashes were not mixed as they were emptied from different bins. So, the next time you see all the colorful recycle bins – you may as well throw any rubbish into any bin! Right?

Why
Why - when we are supposed to care for the environment, we do otherwise?
Why - when we have rubbish bins but we took the short cut by dumping into the sea?
Why - when we took the trouble to separate our trashes but they were simply dumped?

Do all the boats, ferries and cruises on the sea throw their trashes into the sea? Do you have an answer? Share your answer here.